The Enouire Files
by PuffPride
Summary: For too long had she been under the Ministry's control. They had been planning her life since she was eight. But she has broken free from the pits of the Department Of Mysteries, the only questions that remain are how did she get there? and what will she do now? *AU Sirius alive*. *Could move to M rating* Remus/? Sirius/?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! So I've done a little bit of tweaking to this first chapter and I've added to it in some places, just to tie you all over till the next chapter comes out (which won't be too much longer I promise!)**

 **That is all** **…**

The lingering sounds of the attack faded into white noise compared to the sound of his beating heart that filled his ears. He tried to see through the pockets of flames that surrounded the battered house. He shouted out the same two words that echoed over and over again in his mind.

'Remus! Toria!'

From somewhere in the distance he could hear his wife's voice calling out the same two words, the same two names.

Things had been tense enough that evening, it was every night of the full moon when Remus was home from Hogwarts. And even though he knew that their arrangement was safe, that Dumbledore himself had had a hand in reinforcing the room in the cellar Remus used to transform every month, a part of him would always be uneasy. He knew this made him an awful father.

But it turned out he had other things to worry about.

They didn't think much of it at first, a couple of low, faint pops from somewhere in the distance outside. Probably just the local muggle kids with some fireworks. So John and Helen hadn't thought much of it, instead going back to their dinner with a roll of the eyes and a soft smirk.

And then the screaming started. They were the kinds of screams that cut right through you, the kind that had a scream of your very own clawing it's way up the insides of your throat. John and Helen were frozen, heads turned towards the right side of the kitchen, staring unblinking out the window.

A sudden burst of flames and the impossibly high pitched, trembling cry of 'Toria!' had both of them grabbing their wands and making for the front door, but something had beaten them to it.

Now John stopped on the threshold of his neighbour's property, panting heavily, looking helplessly around, trying to see past the house that was still alight in some places, trying to think, desperately. Where could they be?

The light of the full moon was a mere shadow that was trying its best to push against the intense glare of the fires and of the shadow of the sun that was rising softly but swiftly in the horizon.

A group of Aurors extinguished flame after flame around and within the house. He could hear them calling out to each other.

'John!'

John spun around at the voice. An Auror, a man John knew well, had detached himself from the rest of his colleagues. He had patches of black over his face and robes from the smoke and his skin was covered in a thin layer of grimy sweat.

He looked at John with the grimmest of expressions. 'We found two adults, both deceased.' John felt his legs weaken. 'There's no sign of anyone else.'

John's heart gave a painful ache. _Two adults, deceased._ That poor girl. _No sign of anyone else_.

In the next few moments, John Lupin thought so hard that his head started to throb.

Remus, who wasn't himself, not in his right mind, had broken free of the enchantments they used on the cellar. John had never seen the likes of it, Remus had been but a blur as he ran past them tonight, towards the sound of the yelling, the screaming, of the bangs of the explosions that resonated from next door.

No sign of anyone but the adults. Toria was missing, just as John had thought she might be. They should have prepared better for this! They had all known that it was a possibility that something like this was going to happen. But where was Remus/

Remus, he must have taken her, pulled her away from the fighting. But where? Some place safe he hoped.

'John!'

From across the yard, John's wife caught his eye, the panic that had gripped hold of his heart shone bright on her face.

'John, the tree house!' She screamed, not waiting before taking off, back towards their own house.

Of course!

John chased after her, barely registering the fact that the Auror he had been talking with was following him. Even if Remus wasn't himself, the beast still had all of Remus' memories, he should've thought of it sooner.

John's wife had not waited for him and as he reached the base of the tree he heard the cry that stilled his aching heart.

'No! Remus!'

John's legs were numb as he climbed. His hand landed in something wet as he gripped the edge of the landing. Pulling himself up onto the landing, his hand came into view, it was covered in red liquid.

Helen was crouched over her son's unconscious form. She had lifted his head into her lap, her fingers pressed firmly over the point where her son's pulse met his skin. Tears streamed down her face as she looked over her son, and all the red that coated it. She looked up at John as he came into view.

The appearance of her husband seemed to make her come out of her stupor. Quicker than he had seen anyone move, Helen examined her son's body, checking for any wound that would cause the amount of blood that now covered him. After mere seconds she raised her wide eyes to his before looking over to the other unconscious form in the room.

'The blood's not his,' she said loudly in a single, shaky breath, holding her son even tighter as she began to rock slightly.

John rushed over to the girl lying on the floor. Her hair stuck to her one side of her face and the lack of colour in her skin made his own pale. As gently as he could, John rolled Toria over so that her torso was exposed. If panic hadn't been driving him, he would have been sick. A long, deep and jagged gash tore down the girl's side. Another cut curled itself around her neck, it started from somewhere John couldn't see.

In the years to come, John would marvel at his own nerve, for when he relived it, he found himself in desperate need of a drink.

'Helen!' Helen snapped her head up at the sound of her name. 'We need to get them both to Mungos.' John leant out of the tree house, the Auror who had followed him was halfway up the ladder. 'Reg, we need to get my son and the girl to St Mungos!'

Reg was standing on the landing seconds later.

'Please, take my son.'

'No!' Helen's grip on Remus became a vice grip. 'I can't leave him.'

'Reg, take my son and my wife to St Mungos.' Helen whimpered out a grateful 'thank you' at this. 'I'll follow with Toria.'

They all stood together, with Toria in John's arms and - a testament to the strength and amount of adrenalin coursing through her veins - Remus was firmly held in Helen's. Reg placed an arm on Helen's shoulder and with a crack they dissapparated. A heart beat later, John twisted.

The ground floor of St Mungos was quiet when the three adults appeared suddenly, two of them holding two very bloody teenagers. They had just made eye contact with the witch behind the front desk when two teams of Healers appeared before them. Four Healers rushed to Helen and Remus whilst five rushed towards John.

John and Helen were ushered towards the elevators. John couldn't make out what they were saying, he couldn't make out their hurried words over the throbbing in his ears. He tried to find the fair hair of his wife and son through the cloud of yellow Healer's robes.

The elevators opened, the atmosphere on this level was humming and even more healers were waiting for them when the doors opened. One of them tried to take Toria from John's arms, but he couldn't let go, he wouldn't let go.

He caught sight of Helen, she had relinquished Remus to one of the Healers, a strong looking, tall man, and for that John was grateful, for anyone else would have been powerless at what happened next.

Remus let out a howl of pain, his back arching and John's blood ran cold. The sun had risen fully by now but the effects of the full moon still lingered, as it so often did the day after. As the pain subsided, Remus' howls turned into roars, feral and confused. John inched closer to his son but stopped dead in his tracks when his son found him, glowing amber eyes narrowing on the girl in John's arms. Remus gave another almighty roar of anguish.

'Toria!'

The team of Healers assigned to Toria redoubled their efforts in ushering John away from his wife and son. They formed a wall of yellow between Remus and Toria. Remus' yells, snarls and struggles followed them into the small room down the hall.

'Quick, put her on the table.'

John did as the voice told him to do.

'Now, Mr Lupin,' the voice was a lot closer to him now, it was a business-like calm with just a thin layer of concern, 'I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We'll look after her now. Go to your wife, we'll be out when we're done.'

John took a step back and was surprised to see how much his hands were shaking as they let Toria's slip out of his grip. He looked into the girl's face, taking in everything he could, one last time as he stepped back out into the hall.

He was immediately met with the snarls of his son. He let the sounds guide him down the corridor. Whispers followed him as he moved and one word seemed to be louder than all the rest.

'He's a _werewolf_!'

'Yes, the boy they just bought in, a _werewolf_.'

'They're not supposed to be allowed on this floor!'

There was a muscle twitching in John's jaw when he arrived at the room the Healers had taken his wife and son into.

Helen stood by the door, sobbing violently, her back bent and shaking. When her husband appeared at her side, she clung to him, her eyes never leaving those of her son.

Remus was thrashing on the bed, he called out Toria's name, spit flying from his mouth, and snarled when a Healer got too close, his eyes shining menacingly around the room.

John's throat tightened and he would never forget the fact that he had looked at the tall, muscular Healer with a tried, relieved gratitude, when he stunned his son into silence.

XXXXXX

'I must have misheard you, Rourke, for I thought you said that she escaped.'

The cool, high pitched voice lofted through the room. From the firelight, Rourke could only make out the silhouette of the speaker, but Rourke could still feel his eyes boring in through his skin.

'There was no way we could have, foreseen, such a circumstance, my lord,' Rourke, despite himself, found his voice quavering. He attempted to swallow back the nervousness he felt. 'The boy was not supposed to be there.'

'And yet he was,' the cool voice from before cracked like a whip. 'And he was no mere boy, was he, Rourke?' The figure rose from the high-backed chair he had been sitting in, it looked down at Rourke. 'Your assignment was a simple one, kill all those who stood in your way. And yet you were outsmarted by a beast!'

Rourke gave a yelp as he was overcome with pain, he dropped to the cold floor before the figure.

'And now, she will go even further into hiding!' The smirk in the voice was unmistakeable as it said, 'I warned you not to disappoint me when you volunteered for this assignment, Rourke.'

Rourke's pain was excruciating now, he writhed on the floor, pulling at his skin, as if he could simply rip the pain from him, shed it as if it were a second skin. He wished for it to be over, any punishment he would have to face would be a luxury compared to the one he was already facing, even death. Death would be a comfort compared to this.

'Be careful what you wish for,' said the figure softly as it stepped into the light

The last thing Rourke ever saw were the glowing red eyes and cool smirk of Lord Voldemort, towering above him, and lazily flicking his wand in the direction of Rourke's wide, watering eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN at the bottom…**

As the sound of footsteps faded away she stepped out of the shadows and continued making her way down the corridor. Looking back over her shoulder she saw the faint outline of a shadow disappearing around the corner. She huffed a short sigh and turned around.

'Why Ms Enouire!'

Toria bit her tongue to stop from crying out as she stopped short as she came face to face with Nick. His translucent head wobbled slightly as he looked down at her, eyes wide.

'I didn't expect to see you about the castle at this time of night.'

She gaped at him, resuming her now-quick pace down the hall. She wasn't at all surprised when the ghost merely hovered beside her, or the fact that his tone was one of absolute casual conversation.

'Although, I shouldn't have completely ruled it out, I suppose,' he said, oblivious to her unresponsiveness. 'Who else but the prefects, professors and yourself would be out and about at this time.'

She pursed her lips, rushing up the steps as quickly as she could whilst trying not to look impolite.

'I do hope you had a pleasant summer, Miss Enouire.'

'I did, thank you Nick,' Toria said amusedly albeit a little breathlessly.

Nick opened his mouth to speak once more when a far off sound stopped them both. From an open window they had just passed came far off howls and cries. It carried on the small wind there was and wafted right by them. Toria's eyelids flickered as she turned around, taking off again.

'Do try and be careful this year, won't you Miss Enouire.'

Toria still didn't look at the ghost, even though his voice had now turned quite serious.

'The other ghosts and I have been hearing the most disturbing things.'

Toria didn't bother disguising her sigh of relief when she had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. She quickly said the password and gripped the frame of the portrait as it swung open, finally looking up at Nick.

'Thank you, Nick,' she said, still smiling, as one would smile to a small child who has just informed her that a spiders could be painful. 'I promise that I will be nothing but cautious. Good night.'

Her smile slid from her face as she climbed through the portrait hole and saw who it was that met her.

Remus stood with his arms folded across his chest and a scowl which grew deeper as the flickering light from the fire kept throwing it in and out of focus. Toria pursed her lips once more and moved over to the lounge, keeping her head down.

'I would have thought that you could have at least stayed in here for one night before picking up on old habits,' Remus said, dropping into an armchair.

'No one saw me, Remus.'

'That's not the point and you know it, Toria.'

She scowled, looking into the flames.

Something fell into her lap, she looked down to see that days Prophet, a picture of the Dark Mark glowering up at her. There was no trace of her previous amusement as she looked up at Remus.

'My taking a walk has nothing to do with this, Remus.' She snapped, grabbing the paper with white-knuckled hands and throwing it back at him. He caught it without moving his eyes hers.

'That's bullshit and you know it!'

She bit her lip and looked back into the fire.

'Look, I just want you to be safe.'

'I know what you want, Remus, and I know that you mean well, but please, trust me.' she looked over at him at the words she was about to say died in her throat.

Remus shuffled in his seat under her gaze, he rubbed his forehead and looked at the paper in his hands.

'The full moon is tomorrow night,' he mumbled after a few more moments under her stare.

She frowned, suddenly remembering something. 'But-?'

'Look Toria,' Remus said, standing from the armchair, dropping the paper into the seat. 'It's our first night back, I'd rather we not start the year on a sour note. And if you won't be careful for your own safety then do it for my sanity. I'm not the only one patrolling the halls at night, Lily is out there too, and now James is as well. I don't want to have to lie to them anymore than I already do.' With that he left the room, climbing the stairs to his dormitory.

She heard a door close and she rose off the lounge and walked over to one of the windows that overlooked the school grounds. She opened unlatched the window and pushed it open, the midnight breeze instantly cooling her face. As she looked out over the grounds, over the Quidditch stadium in the distance and the darkness of the forest that circled all around, the distant howls and cries rung in her ears.

She had thought that she knew what was making those sounds but as she stood there watching the forest, her forehead became pinched. She glanced upwards to where she imagined Remus' room would be. She looked back out through the window.

What the hell was out there?

XXXXX

Toria couldn't believe how Lily seemed to outdo herself in over eagerness year after year. Toria shook her head as she sat in the Great Hall for the first breakfast of the year reading a discarded copy of the Daily Prophet. Across the table Lily was telling a small first year all about the different classes. The eleven year-old, whose wide eyes peered up at the Head Girl, had her mouth hanging slightly and was nodding her head from time to time. Lily was just starting to go through the Professors when the Marauders sat down at the table next to Toria.

The boys greeted Toria and Lily as they took their seats, their greetings going completely unnoticed by Lily. Remus, who had taken the empty space next to Toria, leaned in.

'How long has she been speaking like that?'

'Like what?' Toria looked over to the red head on the other side of the table, Lily seemed completely unaware that her boyfriend now sat next to her.

'Faster than the speed of sound.'

To this Toria rolled her eyes to Remus and turned her focus to Lily. 'Lily!'

Lily's head snapped around to face Toria's, her brow furrowed. 'What?

'Breakfast is almost over,' Toria said to the first year. 'Maybe you should go find someone you can walk to class with.'

The first year let out a deep breath, grinned and went off in search of a fellow first year further down the table. After she was out of ear shot, Lily snapped.

'What did you do that for?'

'Lily, if you don't calm down you're going to give every eleven year old here a heart-attack.' Toria's matter of fact tone received a good amount of chuckling from the boys around them.

Lily opened her mouth to retort but a voice from behind them interjected.

'Sorry to interrupt what I'm sure is an extremely stimulating and informative conversation but these may prove useful in the coming months,' a low sneering voice floated down to them and the small trace of a smirk that Toria had been entertaining dropped.

'Thank you, Professor,' Lily said, standing up to take her schedule from Professor Antone. The others followed her lead until Toria was the only one left.

Toria took a hidden, deep breath before turning to face the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. She had to raise her head in order to meet his stare, his steely eyes bored into hers. She held his stare for a moment and narrowed her eyes when he looked down at her timetable.

'I see that you have decided to continue on with Defence Against the Dark Arts, Miss Enouire.' Professor Antone's eyes slid from the piece of parchment back to her. 'I hope you find it,' he passed for a fraction of a second before deciding on the right word, 'fruitful.' He handed her timetable to her, his features pulled into a small, tight-lipped sneer, before continuing on along the table.

Toria scanned her timetable before looking up to the others. She was met with five sets of eyes. She quickly looked back to her timetable. Lily was the first to break the silence.

'I will never understand the overt animosity you two seem to have for each other,' she said matter-of-factly. 'I mean, honestly, Toria, he's a teacher.' She shook her head.

'Well I say good on her!' came James' voice from across the table. 'Everyone knows there's something not right about Antone, I bet he was a Slytherin when he was here.'

Lily shook her head again. 'James!' She hissed. 'You can't say things like that, you're Head Boy!'

'I'm only saying what everyone else is thinking.'

'Well I heard that he didn't even go to Hogwarts,' Peter leaned forwards, lowering his voice as he looked around to each of them. 'I heard that he went to Durmstrang, you know, that school in Bulgaria? The one that's supposedly really into the Dark Arts!'

James snorted. 'Well I can't say that it'd came as a surprise if it were true.'

Toria, seeing where the conversation was going, and noticing the darkened expression that had taken over the features of James and Sirius, she leant over Remus' shoulder.

'You're really taking Divination?' She supressed a snort. 'And what, exactly, are you hoping to gain from that class? The easiest way to scam someone?'

Remus rolled his eyes, pocketing his schedule. 'For your information, I'm taking it because I'm interested in how different people interpret stimuli,' he said evenly all whilst giving her a look that plainly said _you know why I'm taking it_.

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes

The others had finished their speculating and had caught the end of their conversation. Sirius snorted as he smeared some butter onto his piece of toast.

'Sure that's the reason, Remus.' He took a bite and looked across the table to Toria. 'What he meant to say was that he thought he could do with the extra sleep.'

Everyone, bar Lily, laughed at this.

'Nah that's not it,' James chuckled, 'he's really into all that stuff, honestly,' he defended as the other Sirius and Peter jokingly protested. 'He wants to know how to use his Inner Eye to see the future,' James said in an airy kind of voice.

'Well if that's what you want I can teach you more than that dodgy old Professor ever could,' Toria said. The chuckling of the boys died a little and Toria looked up at them all for a second before her smirk grew and she spoke in the same airy voice had adopted before. 'See, I knew they were going to react like that,' her voice became loftier, 'you need to focus your inner eye, my boy! Look beyond!'

No one noticed as Toria loosened a breath when her show was met with laughter, but she did notice Remus scowl and her smile became a little tighter.

XXXX

'You shouldn't have said that to him.'

'I didn't _mean_ to say it,' she said, not looking up from the thick volume she had lying open in front of her on the table. 'It just slipped out.'

'You'd think that after all this time, things like that wouldn't just _slip out_.'

This time she looked up, glaring at him from over her quill, which was no longer moving. Her glare was met with Remus' raised eyebrow, looking expectantly across to her. After a moment, Toria simply rolled her eyes, returning back to her essay.

'Look,' she leaned in a bit closer, dropping her voice, as a group of second years passed their table. Once they had disappeared behind a book shelf, she continued. 'He'll only make a big deal out of it, if we make a big deal out of it. If we just pretend that it is was nothing then he won't even notice.'

'You're forgetting something, Sirius was there as well.'

'So?'

'So, apart they're curious, together they're mutual curiosity has a tendency to turn into full scale obsession.'

Toria scoffed at this. Dropping her quill onto her half-finished essay, she leant back in her chair, folding her arms over her chest.

'A tendency that's clearly catching.'

Remus opened his mouth but she was quicker.

'Remus, you're not listening to me! To us it was a slip up, to everyone else, it was a joke.' She picked up her quill once more. 'Now please, just let it go.' She turned back to her essay and had only scribbled down a couple of words before she mumbled, 'Besides, I doubt your friends listen to anything I say, anyway.'

All Remus could do was continue to glare, if only she were right.

Despite her assurances to the contrary, Remus wasn't able to head Toria's words and couldn't ignore the dead weight that had settled itself firmly in the pit of his stomach. A feeling that only grew stronger as he climbed through the portrait hole of the Gryffindor Common Room and saw the three boys sitting around the fire.

He hadn't expected Toria to take his concerns seriously, she never did when it came to matters concerning her. He frowned when he remembered the remark she had made when he had said this to her.

'Why do I need to worry when you do all that for me?'

She didn't understand. If she had any sense than she would be worried and scared. Realisation crept up on him, like a warming sun, and all he could do was make way for the small, bewildered smile that pushed it's way onto his face.

'Ah, there he is!' James stretched his arms out over the back of the lounge as Remus took to one of the armchairs closest to the fire. 'Where were you?'

Remus was about to answer when another voice spoke up. 'James, when will you ever learn?' Remus looked up to see Sirius in the armchair opposite, he was staring openly at Remus as he spoke to James. 'Any time he isn't with us, he's with Toria.'

There was something about Sirius' impassive stare that held Remus' attention even as James went on loudly in the background.

'Ah of course, I knew that.'

'Then why'd you ask?'

'To fill the silence, Peter, obviously.'

'If you say so.'

James and Peter's bickering faded quickly into the other noises that filled the Common Room as Sirius and Remus continued to stare at each other.

Remus didn't know what Sirius was trying to get across with his staring but Remus' uneasy feeling grew. Remus wasn't blind to the fact that Sirius had always been a rather curious person and that he had always been rather curious about Toria, however quietly he might go about it, it was there.

Remus was sure that Sirius, like many others, had heard the rumours about what had happened in Toria's past and he was sure that Sirius had noticed how he and Toria would always arrive and leave Platform Nine and Three Quarters together with Remus' parents.

As Remus looked away from Sirius and stared into the fire he felt himself go slightly pale. Ever since getting on board the Hogwarts Express for the final time, Remus had had a heavy feeling in his gut, and it had only grown since then, and he dreaded to think what would happen to make it grow further.

 **So I'm sorry if this feels like a lot of drabbles all mashed up in one chapter and I'm sorry if it seems a little vague, if so please let me know what you think. I really only have the middle to end of this story mapped out, I'm kind of winging the beginning.**

 **Thank you so so much to everyone who commented on the first chapter but I think it's only fair to warn all of you reading this story that I have a personal rule that I don't post the next chapter if the number of reviews I have aren't more than the number of chapters in the story thus far. Just food for thought :P**

 **Let me know what you think and thanks for reading :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**So hello everyone out there, me again.**

 **This chapter is a bit of a filler chapter – so I'm sorry about that, but as I've said before, I do have the middle to end of this story all worked out, so the beginning may be a little rocky.**

 **And THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who has so far reviewed and liked my story, it means so much to me!**

 **I'm currently working on another story and in some ways they're very similar so I find myself getting the two mixed up, but if you haven't checked it out, it'd mean a lot to me if you did, it's called Lyra :)**

 **But anyways, on with the show I suppose…**

She was at it again …

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Sirius tried to pay attention to what Flitwick was saying. He knew he shouldn't have stayed up so late. James and he had finally perfected the model Quidditch pitch they'd been working on all summer. James was supposed to be using it to work out new strategies, but now that they had charmed the figurines to fly and talk, the boys found it much to entertaining to take it seriously.

Last night James and Sirius had given up on the model and gone to bed after the players refused to do as they were instructed, yelling up what they thought were better tactics instead. Sirius had just started to doze off when he heard shouting coming from the Common Room.

Yawning, Sirius had raised himself and looked around the room, frowning slightly when he saw Remus' bed empty, sheets not disturbed in the slightest. When the voices grew louder, Sirius moved to get out of bed, aiming to get closer, he had both feet on the floor when the voices stopped and the sound of footsteps on stairs replaced them. Sirius scrambled and had just managed to throw the covers back over himself when the door clicked open. Sirius shut his eyes quickly as Remus entered, mumbling under his breath.

'What I get for trying to help. Should just give up. She doesn't want my help? Fine, I won't help anymore.'

Remus was moving around the room, obviously trying not to make too much noise as every time he knocked into something, he shushed it as if it had got in his way on purpose. Sirius raised his head off the pillow ever so slightly to better hear Remus but after a few more undecipherable comments the mutterings stopped.

Remus' shuffling continued long enough for Sirius' mind to become cloudy again and he couldn't be sure but when Remus finally moved to his bed, Sirius could have sworn he heard the young werewolf sigh and mumble to himself, 'It's her… you'll help.'

Stifling another yawn, Sirius turned to the window. The last dregs of summer warmth were coming to an end as they moved further into autumn. The sun shone but the grounds seemed to be bathed in a soft, shimmering haze that hinted at the true temperature.

The sound of laughter drew Sirius' eyes away from the dark trees of the Forbidden Forest and down to the lawn near Hagrid's Hut.

A group sat on the grass trying, no doubt, to soak up as much of the afternoon sun as possible. From this height and angle, Sirius could only make out the tops of their heads but Sirius knew who he was spying on.

Another burst of laughter drifted up to him as a blonde figure tumbled a bit down the lawn. Marlene McKinnon, pulling herself to her feet, met her friend's laughter with a rude gesture that even had Sirius stifling a chuckle, before replanting herself next to a still shaking figure. Marlene gently shoved the reddish-brown haired figure and after a few more seconds, Toria Enouire's shoulders finally settled into their usual, slightly hunched posture.

Remembering the night before, Sirius focussed fully on Toria. There was no one else he knew who could get under Remus' skin so easily. The only times the boys had seen Remus even slightly off balance was anytime around the Full Moon or just before or after having spent time with Toria.

Sirius had, of course, heard the rumours that has started to circulate throughout the school two years ago after Remus and Toria had returned to the start of their fifth year a week later than everyone else. When the two both appeared at the Gryffindor Table on their first day back, it wasn't their lateness that had everyone talking, it was what they had all been reading in the lead up to the reappearance of the two. The fact that Remus and Toria looked like death warmed up didn't help matters.

To both their credit, they had both tried to remain in good spirits, but they would still glances to each other every now and then and those glances, more so in Remus' case, were full of worry and what looked like hesitation. More than once during the weeks following their return, James, Peter and Sirius would wake to find Remus' bed empty and hardly touched. Later, Remus and Toria could be entering the Great Hall for breakfast together. For the most part they tried to act normally and tried to ignore the whispers that followed them as students around the castle hid behind spread newspapers.

A week before the start of his fifth year, Sirius had arrived in the basement kitchen to find his mother smirking cruelly at him. Orion Black was frowning at his paper, but not from anger. Sirius knew that frown well, his father was desperate to say something, something Sirius doubted he would like very much.

Trying to ignore the both of them, Sirius reached across the table for the juice when his eyes landed on that days copy of The Daily Prophet that sat next to the jug. He balked at the headline.

 _PROMINENT FAMILY DEAD AS HOME TARGETED_

Underneath the headline was a moving picture of a glowing symbol, a skull with a snake uncoiling from it's mouth. The symbol was illuminated even more against the dark background of the picture as it hovered over a house, a house Sirius found slightly familiar.

It was only when he'd skimmed the bi-line that he placed the house.

 _Home of Magizoologist Norman Enouire and wife, Estania Enouire, targeted in Death Eater attack. Both died in the attack, they are survived by their daughter who escaped the attack._

Forgetting the juice, Sirius leaned back into his seat, his chest felt painful as he looked across to his parents.

Walburga Black, straight backed and lips tight in a smirk pulled her eyebrows together as she regarded her son.

'Whatever's the matter?'

Sirius merely blinked.

Walburga glanced at the paper. 'Oh yes, that.' She poured herself another glass of water. 'I heard that the _wife_ worked at some sort of _muggle_ establishment.' She took an eager sip, it seemed that she was trying to swallow the distaste that she was so clearly feeling.

Sirius was trembling.

Walburga opened her mouth again but then she met Sirius' eyes, and whatever she saw there made her huff. Her mouth, if it were possible, became even tighter, her lips turning a horrible shade of white. She snatched the paper and held it up to him, that glowing symbol leering at him from across the table.

'This is what happens to people like this!' She hissed. 'Is this what you want, to be killed outright, in the middle of the street like a stray dog!'

Sirius couldn't do anything but sit, still frozen with his arm slightly ajar, as if his body was still expecting to resume its path to the jug and hadn't realised the chaos that was now gripping his mind.

Walburga's eyes held something akin to desperation kindled with fury, they flamed dark but the crease between her brows was not completely cold and malice. She loosed a short breath and placed the paper back down on the table with surprising gentleness.

'Do you really want to be hunted down for the rest of your life simply by associating with people like this, Sirius?'

'Hunted down be people like you, you mean.'

Orion Black slowly lowered his own paper, his grey eyes swirling like thunderstorms as he raised a single eyebrow to his son.

'Watch yourself boy.'

Sirius stood, the veins in his arms tensing.

'I would rather spend the rest of my life being hunted by people like you than join you.'

It took Sirius two days to recover from the consequences of his outburst. He hadn't heard from Remus since the start of the holidays. Those two days confined to his bed broke Sirius' resolve and he'd written Remus two letters a day until he had sent an answer. And Remus' reply was painfully short.

 _I'm fine, not hurt, at Mungo's, talk soon,_

 _Remus_

He didn't know how long he frowned at that letter, if you could call it a letter.

 _At Mungo's._

The attack had been a little over a week ago. They were still at Mungo's. Were the Healers there just being cautious and keeping Toria longer than needed? Maybe she just wasn't ready to leave yet. Sirius hardly knew the girl, he had no idea how she'd react to having lost both parents, in the same night, at the hands of the same group of murderers. Something deep inside him twisted at the thought and he fought the sudden urge to owl James. But Remus was there, at Mungo's, with Toria, and he wasn't hurt.

Sirius looked down at the group of girls, he watched the way she sat, shoulder forward as if shying away from something, every so often she would look around. The way she moved, it appeared to Sirius that she might have seen something or someone out the corner of her eye, but there was nothing and no one there except for the girls.

A week after Remus had sent that crumpled piece of parchment school had started up again, it was another week before Remus returned to Hogwarts, along with Toria.

The bell sounded for the end of the lesson. Sirius stood and started packing his things away. He took one last glance out the window whilst packing his books. He froze.

Toria's friends had left her, presumably going to whatever class they had next. But it wasn't the fact that Toria's friends had seemingly abandoned her that made him pause, it was who had replaced them.

From where they now stood, Sirius could no longer see Toria's face, but by the way she was standing, slightly stiff with her hands firmly by her sides, he guessed that she was no longer smiling. But Regulus was.

XXXXX

'I thought you didn't want to be seen with me?'

'And you _want_ to be seen with me?'

She didn't smile, but she didn't frown either. What she _did_ do was shake her head and move around him. She'd be damned if she was going to be late for a class within the first week.

Last time they talked, Regulus had made it abundantly clear that if she were wise, she'd stay away from him. She ground her teeth, she would have gladly headed his advice, if it weren't from his constant reappearances.

She heard the crunching of grass underfoot from somewhere behind her. She tried to ignore those footsteps as she strode towards the sound of chatter and laughter.

'I see you haven't lost your favoured line of defence!'

Toria smirked as she heard the slight breathlessness in his voice. The closer she seemed to be getting to the school's courtyard the quicker those footsteps behind her seem to get and soon she could see Regulus striding alongside her.

'Will you _slow down!_ '

'I don't want to break my promises.' She gave him a sidewards, smug, look. 'I know how you hate that.'

Regulus scowled at her.

They were ten paces from the courtyard walls now and Toria finally started to breathe a little easier when suddenly she was grabbed and spun around.

Regulus quickly let go of her arm, as if he'd been burnt, or electrocuted. She merely looked at him.

'I have something to tell you.'

She rose an eyebrow.

'You're not safe.'

Her eyebrow fell, along with the rest of her face. Her features arranged themselves into a positively bored expression.

Regulus, who had been looking rather unsure up till this point, took a step forward. 'Look, I'm trying to help, here.'

'Why?' Her voice matched her face perfectly.

He faltered.

'Look, I know you're the one who set up our previous arrangement of ignoring each other, but I've become rather fond of it.' She smirked. 'Give it time, it'll grow on you as well.'

Toria didn't wait for Regulus to collect himself before turning and making the rest of the way into the now-crowded courtyard. She didn't look back, she didn't need to see his face to know how pissed Regulus was.

 **Thoughts? Likes? Dislikes? General, worldly observations or insights? I don't care but I'd love to hear it either way :)**


End file.
